US government extends limited license to trade with Huawei until May 15

The US Department of Commerce has extended the temporary license for US companies to restrict trading with Huawei until May 15. The temporary license originally ran for three months since May last year, but has now been extended four times.

The ministry needs time to process comments that companies can provide next week about how to proceed with the temporary license, the ministry reports. There is a trade ban for US companies with Huawei, but under the temporary license, companies can continue to do business with Huawei. The question now is what that license should look like after the extension on May 15.

The trade ban means that US companies are not allowed to trade with Huawei, but under that temporary license, Google was able to provide its apps and services for the Android 10 upgrades for already approved Huawei phones, among other things. However, Google may no longer approve new models for the use of the services. As a result, for example, the P30 Pro that appeared a year ago with Android 10 does have Google services on board, while the Mate 30 Pro that appeared later does not have them.

Meanwhile, the US government has already granted some companies a permanent license to trade with Huawei. One of these is Microsoft and that means Huawei can again supply laptops with Windows 10, something that was temporarily not possible. The US government imposed the trade ban over concerns about espionage, something Huawei has always denied.

Meanwhile, Huawei has said it will announce its P40 smartphones via a live stream in two weeks. The company had planned a physical event in Paris, but due to concerns about the new corona virus, it has decided to cancel it.